BERLIN — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said Russian leader Vladimir Putin was in the wrong for not attending Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul, and pledged to slap fresh sanctions on Moscow.

The talks are beginning on Friday and mark the first time the warring sides have held direct talks at any level since soon after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Putin snubbed the talks and sent a low-level Russian delegation to attend in his place.

The German chancellor has pledged a fresh sanctions package against Moscow over Putin’s no-show. “The fact that President Zelenskyy traveled to Turkey despite this is an enormous gesture. Putin didn’t show up – and that put him in the wrong,” Merz wrote on X.

“A new sanctions package is ready. We will adopt it in Brussels on Tuesday.”

Other European leaders have similarly delivered blunt remarks over Putin’s decision not to attend. Speaking during his visit to Albania on Thursday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Moscow was “standing in the way of peace.”

Speaking from Turkey’s coastal Antalya city on Thursday, France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot said there was an “empty chair” in front of Ukraine “waiting for” Putin, Reuters reported. — CNN